Gabriel ZamoraBrandish: The Dark Revenant (for PSP)Brandish is a slow and methodical dungeon crawler, and an unabashed one at that. The maze-like maps, perilous traps, and wealth of hidden secrets make it a great title for portable gamers hoping to scratch an RPG itch.

Takes some time to acclimate to controls. Bland in-game graphics. Repetitive music during long dungeon crawls.

Bottom Line

Brandish is a slow and methodical dungeon crawler, and an unabashed one at that. The maze-like maps, perilous traps, and wealth of hidden secrets make it a great title for portable gamers hoping to scratch an RPG itch.

The Dark Revenant is a complete remake of Brandish, an overhead dungeon crawler developed by Falcom and released for NEC's PC 98 computer line back in 1991, and later ported to Super Nintendo in 1994. Dark Revenant updates the game world, character models, and soundtrack, but the visuals are lacking by today's standards because the game was original released for the Japanese PlayStation portable six years ago. Nonetheless, Brandish has plenty of soul, and more than enough dungeon-crawling goodness for fans to sink their teeth into.

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More Than a Fresh Coat of Paint The original Brandish had some disorienting, and at times annoying, camera controls as a result of the tile-based movement and overhead perspective. Turning left or right would turn the map 90 degrees instead of your protagonist. This design choice was no doubt meant to capture the dungeon crawling experience of role-playing games like the Dungeon Master and Wizardry, but with a third-person overhead perspective. As one can imagine, the constant world-spinning camera could lead to much frustration and confusion instead.

Brandish: The Dark Revenant still utilizes this mechanic, but the graphical and control changes make the shifting far more palatable. Like the original game, Dark Revenant sees protagonist Ares Toraernos always facing forward. The d-pad moves him forward, backward, left, or right. The L and R triggers "turn" Ares, which turns the entire map in the process.

Rather than a direct overhead perspective, The Dark Revenant is skewed so that the camera is behind Ares. The camera is also pulled in more closely than in the original game, so turning feels less significant. Finally, because The Dark Revenant is a fully realized 3D world rather than a sprite-based map, the spin is smoother and much less jerky. It will still take a bit of time to get used to when compared to other action RPGs, but it isn't the headache-inducing mess of the original.

This camera implementation does feel a bit stiff at times; particularly during boss fights. Some of Brandish's boss monsters have been completely redesigned around the camera and perspective mechanics for The Dark Revenant. These fights demand efficient camera manipulation and player movement to overcome, which is a tall order if you haven't gotten used to the controls.

Beyond the three-dimensional environments and character models, The Dark Revenant utilizes fantastic character artwork by Japanese artist Jun Suemi. The illustrations have a decidedly more western aesthetic; his art adheres more closely to the Frank Frazetta School of oil-based fantasy paintings rather than the anime/manga art typically seen in Falcom's games. This art gives Brandish a uniquely old-school RPG feel, which suits the game's dungeon crawling roots to a tee.

Falcom's games have a reputation for their excellent music, and Brandish does not disappoint. Brandish's soundtrack is noticeably more somber and atmospheric than your typical Falcom fare, but the slower-paced tracks compliment the dungeon exploration perfectly. The only flaw with the soundtrack stems from repetition: each of the Brandish's dungeon areas has its own unique theme, but listening to the same track for hours as you explore becomes tiresome, regardless of how good the track is. The Dark Revenant gives you the option of switching between the original PC-98 tracks or the new remixed soundtrack, both of which are excellent. This gives you a bit of audio variety, at the very least.

A Long, Cruel and Lonely Journey Ares is literally dropped into the ancient city of Vittoria after a brief introduction and prologue, which details a great king's hubris and a Dragon's curse that doomed the city. After dusting yourself off, you are left to your own devices as you explore the ruined cityscape and make your way to the central tower, the only obvious way back to the surface.

Ares is pursued by a revenge-driven and scantily clad sorceress named Dela Delon. Beyond what is established during a few encounters in the game, there is not much backstory to Ares, who serves as a blank slate protagonist. This works in the game's favor, as the focus of Brandish is its setting and dungeon crawling, rather than its characters. Everything about the game world is explained by non-player characters, as well as flavor text on items, keys, and the environment itself. This spartan approach to storytelling keeps the limelight on gameplay and progress, which is good, because you will be exploring and fighting through the labyrinthine halls of Brandish for a long time. Brandish is easily twelve to fifteen hours long, not including the bonus content, which amounts to a lot of dungeon crawling.

As mentioned, Brandish utilizes a grid-based map system, which allows players to scrutinize every square of the environment with the Triangle button. You can investigate quite thoroughly in this manner, but mashing triangle on everything makes for tedious gameplay. Fortunately, almost every trap and secret in the game can be discerned with your own eyes, if you know what to look for. False floors have misplaced stones and tiles on their surface. Illusory walls are discolored slightly. Breakable walls have subtle cracks running through them, and so on. Careless players can only blame themselves for falling into a pit or triggering an arrow trap, as all hazards have visual cues that give them away.

Brandish's map system allows you to place markers at your discretion to ease backtracking and make finding secrets easier. This is useful because the game rewards you for thoroughly exploring every area. Each map in the game has a completion bonus tied to it, which can only be unlocked when every tile in the area has been explored. Rewards range from new weapons to gold and healing potions, so it is always worthwhile to explore an area to the fullest.

Item management is a major element in Brandish. Items like weapons and magic rings have durability values, which decrease with each use. When durability drops to zero, the item breaks and is rendered useless. Ares fist-fights without a weapon alternative, but he will do very little damage to enemies, slowing combat down to a crawl. Early in the game, you will earn a spell scroll, which you can use to supplement Ares' melee attacks. Spells use MP to cast, but MP regenerates with time, giving you an alternative attack to choose from and granting your weapon some much-needed respite.

Beyond weapon management, players must also account for inventory space. Ares has a limited number of pockets in his bag, so you must carefully collect, condense, and even discard your items to make room for new ones. The game saves your item and its location when dropped, so you can always return and pick it up later. Leaving something behind is discomforting, especially since almost every item in the game has some use or value, but it's all part of the dungeon crawling experience.

Fighting For Your Life No dungeon would be complete without monsters and abominations to fight, and Brandish gives Ares plenty to cut down. Combat takes place on the same tile-based grid as exploration. When an enemy steps into a tile adjacent to yours, you can be attacked. Ares will automatically block when standing neutral if he is facing an enemy, but he cannot block while attacking. You must carefully time your attacks and blocks to mitigate damage. Maneuvering around enemies is also important, because attacking from the side or back allows you to deal extra damage. Enemies telegraph their attacks very obviously, so if you ever get hit it is usually your own fault for not paying attention or attacking when you shouldn't have.

Ares levels up by killing enemies, as you would in any RPG. This gives him a flat boost to his HP. Additional stats, like as strength and magic, are improved by using those stats, namely by attacking or casting spells. You level up as you make progress, so there is never a need to grind. The game is also fairly generous with its healing items, armor upgrades and new weapons, so you will rarely find yourself without potions or a good weapon to fight with.

Immersive, Reclusive, and Very Fun Brandish: The Dark Revenant is a lonely journey, but a satisfying one. Because there is little in the way of handholding, overcoming the traps, puzzles, and monsters of the game feel like an accomplishment, and make for a gratifying experience. The challenge is steep, but the game never throws you into a situation that you can't handle. Brandish may not be as energetic as Falcom's hack-and-slash Ys series, but frantic action is not the game's focus: it is a slow paced and methodical dungeon crawler, and it handles this fantastically. With massive, multi-tier dungeons to explore and bonus end-game content to unlock, there is plenty to enjoy in Brandish. If it's dungeon crawling you are in the mood for, Brandish: The Dark Revenant delivers.

Brandish: The Dark Revenant (for PSP)

Bottom Line: Brandish is a slow and methodical dungeon crawler, and an unabashed one at that. The maze-like maps, perilous traps, and wealth of hidden secrets make it a great title for portable gamers hoping to scratch an RPG itch.

Gabriel Zamora is as passionate about writing as he is about video games and electronics, and his fervor has led to game and tech article contributions in a variety of online publications including PCMag.com, Examiner.com, 2D-X.com, and Multiplayergames.com. When not criticizing the state of gaming or reviewing tech, Gabriel spends much of his time attending related events in New York City, catching up on his favorite written works, or trying out new cooking recipes at home. You can follow him on Twitter: @Dracozombie....
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